


Those Worth Fighting For

by GhostZonePrince



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:01:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28561713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostZonePrince/pseuds/GhostZonePrince
Summary: So many things have changed for Marinette. Adrien and Kagami, two of her best friends, were getting married and not only was she the maid of honour but alongside Adrien’s cousin Felix she was also going to be planning the wedding!There were also the troubles in her Ladybug life that she can’t escape. With Chat Noir retiring his miraculous four years ago, and the disappearance of multiple miraculous, which included the black cat, two years ago the hero of Paris has no time to rest. Thank goodness for her new team. When a new Chat Noir appears she has to decide what to do, all the while managing her regular life. When’s a girl suppose to sleep?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Aurore Beauréal/Mireille Caquet, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Félix Graham de Vanily
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	1. A wedding, a cat, and a coffee

**Author's Note:**

> Hey-hey!!   
> I hope everyone enjoys this fic, it's the second one I wrote for MLB.  
> My MLB sideblog is https://barkkletshunt.tumblr.com/ so feel free to send me a fic prompt or say hi there!

Marinette had been over her teenage crush of Adrien for years. The obsessive feelings that consumed her youth fizzled out not long after he had started to date Kagami and the two girls grew closer until Marinette realized that she was happier for the both of them than she would have been if she was the one who was dating Adrien herself.   
So much had happened in those years that she couldn’t believe how much her life had changed. When Marinette was halfway through her highschool years Hawkmoth was defeated, and despite her best efforts to sway her partner Chat Noir had decided three days later to hand over his miraculous to her. Then, as if things couldn’t get worse for her, Adrien told her that he was leaving Paris to live with his aunt in England. 

She remembered the two years Adrien was gone as if he had just returned, the tears she shed for losing one of her best friends still stained one of her favourite bedtime shirts, and it had only hammered in how different everything was going to be for her. Kagami was there for her, however, and their friendship only became stronger. 

Kagami and Adrien were dedicated to their long distance relationship and with the free time that Kagami did have she made sure to spend it with Marinette. Kagami had brought out a new confidence in Marinette that she didn’t realize she had before, but now that she had it she was taking the world by storm. 

Marinette no longer bent over backwards for other people's approval, she no longer cared who fell for Lila’s lies, and her life was better. She spent more time with Aurore, and Mireille after they finished with their weather report and went to grab breakfast at the bakery. Marinette spent more time in the art room when Kagami was in her fencing lessons and became better friends with Marc and Nathaniel. She even got to hang out more with Nino again now that Lila was spending more time with Alya, and she didn’t realize how much she missed her childhood friend. 

Adrien was only gone for two years, and he had been back for two more, and Marinette had never been happier in her life. She was surrounded by the people who cared for her and loved her. She could remain their everyday Ladybug without feeling the same drain she felt in school because she knew her limits and her friends respected that. She was happy. 

“Marinette, I must ask you something,” Kagami stated as Marinette typed away at her desk, working on one of her final assignments for the business course she was taking. “It’s important.”

Without thinking Marinette spun around on her chair to look at her best friend, one whom Marinette had no qualms about saying grew into her looks beautifully. The usual stoic and regal woman couldn’t meet her gaze, and that was more than enough to send alarm bells through Marinette’s mind. “What’s wrong?”

Kagami wrangled her hands together, fidgeting in anyway she could. It was so unlike her friend that she had to take a second look. That was when Kagami held out her hand for Marinette to see the ring in which she was previously fiddling with. “Could you please make my dress?”

“Adrien finally asked?” Marinette was out of her seat in seconds, already standing in front of Kagami and looking at the ring in amazement. She knew it was going to happen at their dinner the night before, Adrien had told her previously and asked for more than a little advice. She was thrilled at the development and couldn’t be happier for them. Either of them. 

“Yes, and we will be having a duel tomorrow night in order to see if you will be my maid of honour, or Adriens Best Woman, but either way we were both hoping you could be the one to design our outfits for the special day.” This was the closest Marinette had ever come to see Kagami blush, and she wasn’t going to let the chance slip by. 

Marinette reached her hand behind her to grab the camera she had sat at her desk. “Of course I will!” And as Kagami’s face lit up like the night sky during Heros Day Marinette took the picture. “And I will definitely be the best maid of honour you’ve ever seen.”

Kagami rolled her eyes, but the smile wasn’t going anywhere. “You are so certain I will win this duel?”

“Duh, I’ve seen you kick his ass a number of times. What’s one more?” Marinette teased, placing the camera back down on her desk and giving her friend the tightest hug she could muster. “I’m so happy for you two! I knew it was only a matter of time, but still! I can’t believe it’s finally happening!”

Kagami returned the hug, relishing how warm her friend was against her. How supportive she had always been. “It’s finally happening.” Kagami repeated, tasting the words on her tongue. “It’s actually happening!”

“What did he say? What did you say? Like I know you said yes, but set the scene for me. You know I would have been there if I could.” Marinette pulled her friend to her loveseat and sat down, intent on hearing it all.

Kagami laughed, “as much as I love having you around, you can be worse than the paparazzi when it comes to these sorts of things. Like an overly proud mother who needs to add a million photos to her album.” 

“Emilie asked me to help make up for lost time, and it is my sworn duty to that lovely woman to do so.” Marinette shrugged, unashamed of her tendencies. She realized soon into their friendship that both Kagami and Adrien needed someone unabashedly supportive and proud of them and who was she to deny them of that? 

“Well now your sworn duty is to help plan this wedding, if you are up to the task.” Kagami leaned against her friend and grinned. “Adrien insisted that his cousin needs to assist in planning, he’s practically tossing all of the planning on the two of you.”

“His cousin? Felix?” Marinette made no effort to hide her distaste. “That dickhead?”

“Adrien told me about him causing three akuma’s in one go when you all were young. I’ve met the man myself, he is an upstanding man now.” Kagami stated, “please give him a chance.”

“Well, don’t expect me to fall head over heels for him, but I don’t mind working with him if he’s willing.” Marinette laid her head against Kagami’s and smiled wistfully. “Hold up, are you also asking that I plan your wedding?”

“Yes, wedding planning is too much stress for the baby.” Kagami said cooly. 

“What baby?”

“Adrien.” 

Even after four years of running across the rooftops of Paris alone, Ladybug could not get used to it. The night air was filled with a silence she had once wished for, but now hated more than any akuma she had come to face. 

Once Chat Noir had given up his miraculous she had debated about doing the same. Sure, the Peacock miraculous was still missing but no one was using it. She could just go on with her life until someone did. That thought ended within two months of Hawkmoth's defeat. Lady Fisher was the new Peacock holder and she wanted to destroy Paris and everyone in it, if her speeches were anything to go by. 

Once the Queen had turned a whole street of houses to fight Ladybug, and while Ladybug had no problem bringing in Carapace or Ryuko this battle was more than she could handle with her two favourite team mates. 

She had grabbed the Miraculous box in order to grab more hero’s to help her, but just as she added the last five to her team she was attacked and the miraculous box scattered. She did everything she could to get it back, but even with the help of Marc as ScapeGoat, Nathaniel as Mattamorphis, Aurore as HoneyBee, and Mireille as GinnyPig. Having a team of seven was just enough to find the home of the sentimonster while keeping Paris safe, but the last eleven miraculous were gone. Not even her miraculous cure was able to bring the miraculous back, and when she asked Tikki why not she reminded Marinette that even when she defeated the first sentimonster that she ever fought, that even after that miraculous cure she didn’t get the butterfly miraculous or peacock back despite it being the cause. 

“If someone has taken the miraculous in the middle of a crisis then my cure won’t bring them back.”

Tikki’s words rang in her ears as if she was listening to the little kwami at that moment. It was a terrible truth, a truth that she had failed her duty to keep the miraculous safe and she couldn’t stop searching for even a single night to find the others. 

It wasn’t like she hadn’t had any luck, she managed to return the fox and the bull to the box, and she knew who had the rabbit miraculous and she knew Alix could be trusted with it. So now she was only searching for the last eight, as well as Queen Fishers. She had her work cut out for her, but she trusted her teammates enough that she was willing to let them hold onto their miraculous’ just in case.

She couldn’t do this on her own, and until the Black Cat was back home with her the entirety of the world was in danger. Especially since Wayzz knew that the miraculous were being used. 

Ladybug finally stopped, sitting down on the Eiffel Tower to get a good view of the city as she took her break. There was just too much for her to focus on and she was stressed. She had to design Kagami’s wedding dress and Adriens suit to match, she had to begin preparing designs for the bridesmaids dresses as well and get all their measurements. She had to meet up with Felix at long last in order to start planning the actual wedding itself, and there was more pressure on her now than back when she was in highschool. 

She sat there for what felt like hours, trying to figure out her best course of action. That was when someone sat down next to her. 

She tried to play it off as a trick of the mind, that he couldn’t be there, and the more she looked at him she knew he really wasn’t. This wasn’t the Chat Noir she knew, he didn’t look playful and he didn’t give his signature smirk. This man didn’t have the same wild hair that her partner had, instead having a simple braided ponytail that hung over his left shoulder. His eyes were the same green, but they lacked the mischief behind them that she had known before. 

This wasn’t Chat Noir, this was the new Black Cat holder. 

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions, Miss. Bug, but I didn’t come out of hiding in order to be interrogated.” The man said, his voice as smooth as the magical leather that clung to him. His English accent didn’t escape her. He wasn’t from here, so how did he get the Miraculous? “I’m here to help. I’ve finally committed to this superhero business, and much like your previous arrangement with your Chat Noir, I would appreciate keeping our identities secret from each other.”

Ladybug blinked, the words slowly processing in her brain. 

The man looked so similar to her Chat, but that was where the similarities ended. His whole demeanor was wrong. She wanted to yell and tell him to give the miraculous back, but he was already getting up from his spot. 

“Hey, wait!” She grabbed his wrist and he went rigid, slowly turning back to look at her. “I need the Miraculous back. The holder of the box needs to choose the miraculous holders.”

The man’s blond brows pulled together in confusion. “Then tell the holder to keep their eyes on me, my actions will prove my worth.”

“That isn’t really how it works,” she tried, but he pulled his hand from her grasp. 

“That isn’t any of my business.” He leaned over so his face was in hers, his green eyes sparkling as he dared her to do something about it. “What I do know is that there is a set of metal armor attacking people in the louvre. Now if you’d excuse me, I rather not waste precious time arguing with you over the details of my superhero contract.”

“How do you know that?” She stood up to get into his face, her anger bubbling up and warming her body. She wanted to kick the man into next Tuesday and the smirk he donned only made it worse. 

With Chat Noir his smirk was one that made her feel like he was sharing a secret with her, but this bastard made her think he was the one keeping a secret. “I have a bluetooth speaker in my ear connected to police scanners. This is the twenty first century after all, Miss. Bug. It’s time to work smarter, not harder.”

And with that he was gone, bounding over the rooftops that stood in the way between him and the louvre. Ladybug was on his heels, but soon saw the giant metal creature that was causing more destruction than she could believe. She watched in horror as more and more suits of armour marched towards the giant thing and getting absorbed into its metal form. Each piece making the monster before her grow. 

Ladybug landed next to the annoying new cat and tried to look for anything that could hold the feather that brought the beast to life. There was the feather on its helmet, the banner on its chest, or the impossibly big sword in it’s hand. 

“I’ll go after the feather and sword, think you can take care of the banner?” He asked.

“A few of the other holders will be here soon, we should wait.” She stated. “Besides, I’m not sold on you being the new Chat Noir.”

“Who said I wanted to be a Chat Noir?” The man scoffed, rolling his eyes dramatically. “I’m just a black cat, I don’t need a superhero name. Especially not that one.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to take down half of the Akuma’s I faced without him, you know.” Ladybug pointed out, irritated that he would look so disgusted at the mere mention of her partner. “And I need something to call you.”

“And I’m sure your youth would have gone much smoother without your partners needless flirting, and dramatic need to sacrifice himself for your sake, but alas. I’m here now.” The man shifted, ready to spring into action. “Just call me Cat. It’s simple enough.”

Ladybug pinched the bring of her nose. How did he know about Chat Noir’s flirting? “I’ll take out the feather and the banner, just cataclysm the sword and get out of here. The others will arrive soon.”  
The Cat turned on his heel to face her completely, only staying on the ledge by the balls of his feet. “Unfortunately, Miss. Bug, I’m a cat through and through, and I simply cannot help myself to play with some feathers.” With that he took a step back and fell from the flat roof they had stationed themselves on. 

The battle ended sooner that she would have thought. True to his word he took out the sword while she used her Lucky Charm to get a giant pot of oil almost the size of the creature. She had no idea what she was going to do with it until at long last she realized it was to make the thing slip. 

“Cat! Can you topple the pot?” She yelled out. 

The man was at her side in a moment, shoving his baton under the pot and using the added leverage as a way to tip the pot over. It wasn’t enough. “How good are you at landing on something small?”

He wants to throw me and use my weight to topple this thing. She realized. The monster was coming towards them and she had little time to decide. “I bet I’m better at it than you.”

That’s all it took for him to fling her into the air, and in a moment it all came crashing down. She landed on the baton and the pot cracked instead of toppling, and the oil that was inside began spilling out all over. 

Cat grabbed her hand and ran, the two of them doing their best not to slip as the oil coated the ground. She wrapped her arm around his waist and pulled him tight against her before using her yoyo to lift them up to safety. 

The monster grabbed the pot and lifted it with ease, only for the oil inside to drip over it as it inspected the crack on the bottom of it. Now if only the final element in Ladybugs plan would arrive.  
“Lightning!” A familiar voice rang out and light lit up the street and suddenly the oil on the ground was burning. The flames traveled up the armour's body, burning away the feather and banner it held and soon it was gone. Just a pile of multiple armour on the ground and a single blue feather floating towards the ground. 

Ladybug wasted no time in grabbing it and using her cure, sending all the armour home and cleaning up all of the fire and oil left over from their plan. Ryuko and Cat were at her side in seconds, double checking the scene before them. 

“You found the Black Cat Miraculous?” Ryuko was less asking Ladybug and more stating what she thought was obvious. “A new holder to add to our little family.”

“Actually I didn’t give it to him. He’s had it since I lost it.” She turned to him and gave a weak smile. “But he wasn’t too bad with it, even though I will still need the miraculous back.”

The man looked at the two girls and sighed, “But don’t you remember, Miss. Bug? I asked for full privacy in my identity. I won’t pressure you for yours if you don’t pressure me for mine, and this is a direct violation of that same request.”

“I hate him.” Ryuko stated, getting ready to punch the man if it weren’t for the Cat slipping behind them like a shadow and giving Ladybug a pat on the head. 

“You did well today, Miss. Bug. I’ll see you next time.” 

She turned just in time to see him wink and run off, this time only using a couple roofs before dropping down into the street below and vanishing. She wanted to scream, but no longer had the energy within her. She was too emotionally tired to care, even though she knew she should. She cursed, but left it at that. She was sure she’d see him soon anyways.

“Do you want me to follow him?” Ryuko asked, preparing for the chase. 

Ladybug shook her head. “Leave it.” She stated. Kagami had enough on her plate back home with her wedding, and she had the nagging suspicion that he wasn’t going to be the worst Black Cat that could have arrived. At least he wanted to help her. 

“But he has-,” She stopped when she saw Ladybug's face. “Are you ready for a new partner?”

The question took her off guard. Was she? Would he even be a partner or just another teammate? How could anyone come close to being a partner who can hold up to her Chat Noir? Sure, this Cat was still devious and good at hiding his mischief, he wasn’t the same. He didn’t listen to her when it came to handing over his miraculous, but he did listen to her without fault or flirt during battle. 

She sighed. She didn’t have the energy for this. “I have something to do tonight, so I can’t waste my evening hunting down someone who already said he’d help me. We’ll see him again.” 

Ryuko looked like she wanted to say more, but decided against it. After all she didn’t really have time today to run around Paris searching for anyone who had a ring on their ringer. “We will find him, Ladybug.”

“I know, but right now I have a date with my bed.” She laughed. The two girls said their goodbyes and left, Ladybug to her house and Ryuko to hers, but the night was nowhere near over.

It was only after Marinette’s head hit her pillow that she remembered she was supposed to go to the Agrest-Tsurugi household to meet her co-planner. 

Marinette threw her blankets off her and rushed around her room in order to get dressed into something reasonable for meeting Adriens Best Man. Due to the cold winds that howled outside, Marinette chose a simple black turtleneck and a plaid brown and pink pants with a beige trench coat she bought with Kagami when they visited Adrien in England one spring. She threw her hair up in a loose ponytail that hung over her shoulder and applied some simple make up before heading out of her apartment. 

She threw open the door to her home to reveal a man standing on the other side holding a cardboard tray with two steaming coffees in it, while his other hand was primed and ready to knock on her door. 

Marinette recognized the man immediately from the humiliating memory from her teenage years. She could still see his smug face leaning in for a kiss while dressed as his cousin, and the anger she had felt all those years ago began to bubble. 

“You’re Miss. Dupain Cheng, correct?” The green eyed man asked, seeming oblivious to the rage that threatened to boil out of her. 

“You must be Felix, right?” Marinette did her best to smile at the man. Kagami told her that Felix had changed, but even if her friend made her promise to give him a chance she found it hard to look past his teenaged transgressions. 

“I am, I’m here to pick you up.” Felix’s voice was silky, and deeper than the cousin whom he shared so many similarities with. When they were all teenagers Marinette had troubles telling the difference between the two, and now it was like looking at night and day. Where Adrien had short messy hair, Felix grew his hair out and kept it tied up perfectly in a low ponytail with a green ribbon tying it together nicely. Where Adrien was all smiles and sunshine, the man before her was impossible to read and she had no doubt he was going to be as bitter as the coffee she was sure he drank. 

“I brought you a coffee, Adrien informed me that you tend to become fatigued after an akuma attack. Now that I’ve experienced one again I remember how exhausting it can be.” Felix said simply. He used his free hand to grab one of the insulated cups and offer it to her. “Kagami informed me how you take it.” 

Marinette took the coffee before taking a tentative sip to make sure he wasn’t trying to pull another cruel prank on her. She needed a coffee to get through the evening and if this was a measure of good faith she would take it. She just hoped that it wouldn’t come to bite her in the butt later on.

The coffee was perfect. There was the right balance between dark roasted coffee beans and the thick coffee cream, with a wonderful touch of caramel that she was surprised Kagami remembered she loved. The coffee warmed her bones that were still frozen from her earlier run around Paris and there was nothing more soothing than the warm embrace of coffee, even if it was in a to go cup with a cardboard sleeve. Coffee was hot and it was nice to know that Felix cared not to have her burn her hands, even if the lack of a sleeve on his cup made it obvious he didn’t think it was necessary. 

“Thank you,” she breathed out, giving Felix the best smile she could muster. “This akuma really kicked my anxiety into gear. I almost passed out when it was finally defeated. The heroes are amazing for being able to fight those things.”

“Likewise.” The man returned her smile, even if she almost missed it. “Shall we get going, Miss. Dupain Cheng? Adrien was saying how he was going to make us coffee for when we got back, and I think if we get there soon enough we can stop him from destroying his kitchen.”

“Again?” Marinette laughed. The two fell into a simple peace as her anger washed away with each slosh of the warm liquid in her hands. 

Felix held the door of the sleek black car open for her, and closed it behind her as soon as she was safely in. He went around to the opposite side and got in, immediately telling the driver that they were ready to go. 

The ride wasn’t a long one, Marinette knew, but there was still fifteen minutes between her little apartment in the middle of Paris to the large home Kagami and Adrien kept just out of the heart of Paris. She knew she was more confident now than when she was a teenager, but even if Felix wasn’t Adrien’s cousin and the co-planner for the wedding she knew Felix Graham De Vanily’s work in the fashion and film industry and it was intimidating. 

“How long are you staying in Paris?” “What do you think of the heroes of Paris?”

The two spoke over each other, and as soon as they realized it they froze. 

He was asking her about the heroes? When there were so many news reports and blogs based on the heroes? Marinette took a sip of her coffee, hoping Felix would answer her question instead. She thought she became better at speaking from all those years of hanging out with Kagami and her mother, but apparently even now she could find herself in the worst conversation. 

“I’m not sure, actually.” Felix muttered, bringing her attention out of her panicked thoughts. “Depending on a few things this might become a permanent move for me.”

Marinette cast a glance at her seatmate to see him staring at the coffee in his hands, which he stared at as if it held all the secrets of the universe. “Like, if the coffee here is good?”

“What?” He looked up at her confused.

Marinette shrugged, “I wouldn’t move here either if the coffee wasn’t good. I see how you're examining your cup, and I promise you it’s better than any coffee you have in England. So if that’s all you’re debating on then, wow, look at that! You’re set to move here.”

Felix watched her for a moment before the corners of his lips turned up into a soft smile. “Why, Miss. Dupain Cheng, how in the world did you read my mind? Clearly I could not live in a place with subpar coffee. It’s what I replaced my blood with years ago when I started university.” 

“You and me both,” she laughed, enjoying the friendly peace between them. Sure, Felix wasn’t like Adrien but he was just as easy to talk to. Kagami was right, he had changed from when they were younger. She doubted a younger Felix could laugh anymore than a robot could, but the man in front of her was close. She just needed to up her jokes. “And please, call me Marinette.”

“Well then, Marinette, are you ready to plan the most influential wedding Paris has ever seen?” Felix asked, those green eyes lighting up with the same mischief she missed from her superhero partner for the past four years. 

She couldn’t help but say yes.


	2. The past, the present, and the future of heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Felix discuss Kagami and Adrien's wedding, Marinette asks her friends for help, and two new heroes arrive with Alley Cat's approval.

“While I like the idea of them having a red, green, and gold colour scheme going on, don’t you think it would have too much of a christmas theme and take away from the magic of their wedding?” Marinette sat on the same couch as Felix did, across from Kagami and Adrien who, despite their careful appearances, looked frazzled. 

“But those are our favourite colours,” Adrien tried, but Felix held his hand up to stop his cousin.

“Your wedding is in late spring, if you think for a moment that christmas colours are appropriate for that time of year then you need to hand over your fathers fashion industry to me right now.” Felix sipped at his now cold cup of coffee. “If anything, we could do red and gold and have green accents if we used things like leaves and give it a more rustic feel.”

“But that wouldn’t go well with their general aesthetic. They need to look like a king and queen, not a cottagecore couple.” Marinette countered. “I think we could go with a green, gold, and cream theme. That way they both get one of their favourites while keeping with the posh style. Either way, no matter what gold has to be a part of it. That I will not budge on.”

“If we made Adrien’s tie green it would bring out his eyes more.” Felix hummed, looking over at his co-planner. “You have good tastes, Marinette.”

“Why thank you, Felix, your tastes aren’t so bad yourself.” She said back. 

The two planners had successfully gotten their way with the wedding with everything they had put forth. Marinette’s ideas were either on point with Felix’s or close to it so the planning was going a lot easier than either of them had expected. Both had spent enough time with the bride and groom to know their likes and dislikes and due to their fashion background they knew what they were doing. 

They were unstoppable, not that Kagami and Adrien even tried. They saw the fire that was lit behind their companions' eyes and knew better, and it wasn’t like they didn’t like anything their friends had said. In fact, the more the two spoke the more excited Kagami and Adrien felt about the upcoming event. 

“Why don’t we make the groomsmen wear gold ties, just so that Adriens tie doesn’t fade in with the rest of them.” Marinette rambled, showing Felix the designs she had tucked away in her portfolio that she refused to show Kagami. “If you wear green too your eyes will stand out and Adrien is supposed to be the one people are paying attention to.”

“Should the bridesmaids wear green then? If that dress design is anything to go by we don’t want Kagami to blend in with the other girls.” Felix hummed, sliding closer to Marinette without thinking about it. “Can’t have you stealing the show from the bride, you know.”

Marinette’s face grew warm at the compliment, even if it did match her unintentional flirting moments earlier. The added proximity didn’t help, but she could pull herself together. This was Felix, after all, and despite how nice he had been that evening she still needed to see more of him before passing a proper judgement on him. 

The two planners missed the looks between the future Mr. and Mrs Agreste. 

“Well, after the akuma attack today I feel exhausted. I think I shall turn in tonight, since the two of you have it covered.” Kagami said as she stood from her seat. 

“Did you want me to make you a coffee?” Adrien asked innocently enough, but was immediately shut down.

“No, if I have a coffee now I won’t sleep.” Kagami raised her brow at her fiance, wondering if he had caught her drift yet. “And you have business to take care of in the morning. Let’s leave the planning to these two, shall we?”

The blonde man abruptly stood up, realizing what she was getting at. “Oh, oh! Yeah! Of course! They don’t really need our input for any of this stuff anyways, and I’m definitely beat after that sentimonster. We should go to bed.”

The owners of the house bid their goodnights and quickly escaped from the room, leaving Marinette and Felix sitting there dumbfounded. 

“Have, have they always been that obvious in their plans?” Felix finally asked, breaking the silence that had stretched on after their friend's departure. 

Marinette shook her head, “I have only seen them like that once when they were trying to plan a surprise birthday party for me.”

“And how well did that go for them?”

“Adrien ordered the cake from my parents bakery over the phone, but didn’t realize that I was the one taking his order.” Marinette recalled the look of horror on Adrien’s face when he had come to pick the cake up the day prior, and had begged Marinette not to tell Kagami he blew it. “For someone so smart he can be really oblivious, you know.”

“I did live with him for two years, I am well aware of how he can be.” Felix snorted. He shifted positions so he was facing towards Marinette. “I think it actually turned me into a better person, to be honest.”

“What do you mean?” Marinette mirrored his position on the couch. Adrien was an open book to her, she could ask him anything about himself and he’d answer her, and when she asked about his time in England he never said much about it. She couldn’t miss hearing about it from a second party, though. Especially when her friend was the cause of someone becoming a better person.

“Well, as I’m sure you are aware I was a terrible teenager.” Felix started.

“What? You? The man who deleted my love confession and mocked our friends?” Marinette jokingly pushed his shoulder. “I don’t believe it.”

Felix grinned, “I know, I know. I’m such a saint now. I wasn’t sure if you had even recognized me at first.”

“It was a bit difficult without those devil horns you used to wear.”

“Oh those? Those were natural. Grew them myself. Kind of miss them, actually.” 

The two laughed for a moment, enjoying their friendly banter that seemed to come so easily to them. 

“Okay,” Marinette giggled, “tell me how our sweet sunshine child managed to change the demon known as Felix.”

“Well, when he first moved in I was sent into a whirlwind of emotion.” Felix started, “I was still angry that Adrien had abandoned me when my father had died because his father wouldn’t let him call or text us, but I also knew how terrible it was to lose a father even if it was only to a lifetime imprisonment. I had so much baggage that I took it out on him. I think I made the first few weeks of his stay with us hell.”

The blonde man shifted, no longer wanting to look her in the eye as he confessed to his crimes. It didn’t take a trained psychoanalyst to see the regret he felt coming out and causing him to fidget. 

“It was when he transferred into my school and started to get bullied that I changed my tune.” Marinette was shocked. Adrien was so loveable and kind, how could anyone have bullied him? Then it donned on her. He was a terrorist's son. “People would shove notes in his locker with butterflies on it, or draw on his desk, and he’d just smile and say that they must have been doing it because of his fathers fashion symbol being a butterfly. Perhaps he wasn’t oblivious to it, but purposefully ignorant. No one would want to believe their father was the supervillian of Paris after all.”

“It was then that I decided to switch my targets from my cousin to those bullying him, and oh was I ever brutal. I had a few of them expelled for harassment, some I actually got physical with since they assumed I was Adrien. Either way, it was my school and I wasn’t going to let anyone insult my cousin. That was my job.” Felix’s brows pulled together. “It was the fights that got Adrien to step in. He reminded me that the emotions of people were complicated things, and that they were acting out more out of fear than actual hatred towards him. He told me what he actually needed wasn’t another bodyguard, but someone to lead his PR campaign.” 

Marinette remembered when Adrien’s image in the media had changed the first time, when he went from brilliant model to the heir to Hawkmoth's legacy. It had taken almost another full year of Adrien working harder than he ever had before to show the world that he wasn’t a monster, and it still took a live interview from Ladybug herself to convince the rest of the public that there was no way Adrien was involved in any of his fathers crimes nor was he a holder of a miraculous. It had been a wild ride from start to finish, but all considering it only took two whole years to get Adrien back in the world's good graces when the sunshine boy didn’t think he’d ever be able to live it down. 

“I spearheaded Adrien’s redemption. We donated to so many relief funds, I used our similar appearances to go onto talk shows to give a more calculated interviews. I did everything in my power to make people realize how inherently good Adrien is, and it worked.” Felix let out a long breath before turning a kind smile towards her. “But by the time all of that was done I had changed. I had become a person Adrien was proud of, and now I am here planning his wedding with his best friend. Whom, might I add, he talked about almost as much as he did his own girlfriend.”

“Now if you could have told me that, say, five years ago I would have been ecstatic.” Marinette set her portfolio down on the coffee table as she remembered how intense her crush for Adrien used to be. “But I am long over my crush on Adrien.”

“I am sorry about that, by the way.”

“Hm?” Marinette tilted her head to the side, not sure what he was talking about.

“Deleting your confession.” He explained. “It was wrong of me. I was jealous and petty and I’m sorry.”

Marinette wasn’t angry anymore, even if she wanted to be. Felix wasn’t the same as he was all those years ago and neither was she. It was silly for her to hold onto all that anger when he had changed himself so completely. 

“I am, however, not sorry you didn’t end up with my cousin.” He grinned. “Now I might have a chance.”

Maybe not so completely.

“In your dreams, devil boy!” 

Marinette was out enjoying her day like a normal girl for once. She had a full itinerary and she was making great progress on her list. In the morning she went out and bought fabric, sent Felix possible designs for the table arrangements, and then she was going to grab lunch with all the groomsmen in order to help Felix feel more comfortable around them. 

He had texted her the night prior telling her he was concerned that they held his past actions against him. While she couldn’t blame her friends if they did, she had spent enough time with Felix in the past few days to realize he wasn’t the same person as he was back then. She doubted the others would hold it against him, given their own pasts with akumas, but she wanted to make sure that Felix didn’t feel ganged up on regardless. Even if it was just a precaution Marinette promised to be there to mediate any possible disputes with the condition that he bought her lunch. 

His reply made her heart skip a beat. 

“It’s a date then,” he wrote.

She had read and reread that text a number of times, hoping that he’d either send a ‘lol JK’ her way and put the butterflies that had made a home in her stomach to rest, or he’d tell her he was serious. She hated not knowing if it was a joke, because against all odds she was really starting to like that clever blonde boy that would tell her how genius her ideas were. 

Marinette knew it was stupid to catch feelings so soon, especially after declaring it to herself that she wouldn’t be part of a romcom, but she was caught helpless each time he’d stop off at her apartment to go over colour swatches for the table cloths or decorations and bring her a coffee without having being asked. Felix was sweet and she always had a sweet tooth. 

Despite the crush that was bubbling up inside her, Marinette hoped that Felix was late to their little meeting so she could talk it over with the boys. She hoped that they’d be able to decrypt that four worded message that had left her sleepless most of the night. Was he serious? Was it a joke? Who knew? She didn’t. 

That didn’t mean she wanted to make a fool of herself and wear track pants on something that could possibly be a date. Just in case. She didn’t want to come on too strong and say she was for sure interested and obviously dressing up to impress him, despite how he had told her two nights ago that she looked nice after she had woken up from a post exam nap with her hair knotted and drool stains on her mouth. There was no impressing anyone after they saw her like that, and no matter how much she prayed the ground didn’t open up from beneath her and swallow her whole. 

Marinette also didn’t want to go so low as to make it seem like she had no interest on the off chance that he did want to date her. Sure, he was still deciding on whether or not he was going to make Paris a permanent move or not, but perhaps having a Parisian girlfriend would make him want to stay, because if she was being honest with herself she did want him to stay. Even if he wasn’t dating her, he was a great guy who she’d love to spend time with. Dating him would simply be a bonus.

Her thoughts had drifted to the blonde man more times than she could count as she ran her errands. She pictured his stoic face as he sat in Kagami and Adriens kitchen and budgeted everything they needed for the wedding with a hefty set of wiggle room just in case they went over. She could still hear his hushed whisper as he tried to be discreet about telling her a bad pun his cousin once told her that he had remembered, not wanting to let Adrien know he thought they were funny. She could even still smell that warm floral tea-like fragrance that clung to him like perfume, that she had been able to smell as he leaned on her to rest while they were going over Kagami’s dress design and how to make it match with Adrien’s. 

She had it bad already and it hadn’t been that long since they had met again. There was just something about Felix that lit her heart on fire and she wasn’t ready for it, especially not with everything else going on in her life. Still, if Felix felt the same as she did, there were worse 

So even if it wasn’t a date, Marinette dressed up as if it was. She spent time making sure her hair was done up right, and her outfit matched perfectly. She had even busted out the pair of fake leather heels she loved that laced up at the front in bows. Her outfit was cute, and in turn it made her feel cute. So after throwing on a simple brown jacket to go along with the shoes, she went out. Ready to meet her friends and possibly get some much needed advice if Felix was late. 

She really hoped he’d be late.

When she got to the restaurant she realized that luck really was on her side, as both Nino and Felix were yet to arrive. Nino would be there shortly, but she wasn’t as intent on getting romantic advice from him as she was the other two. So once Marinette was seated in the restaurant with Marc and Nathaniel, she began ranting. 

"And then he said, it's a date! A date! Can you believe it?"

Her two friends shared a look. 

"I mean, yeah. I can." Marc said, taking their boyfriends hand in their own and squeezing it. "Mari, you had our entire class in love with you at one point."

"We all had an agreement not to pursue you to make it fair for everyone else." Nath recalled. 

Marinette rolled her eyes at the exaggeration. "Not everyone was in love with me."

"Oh, my sweet summer child, how naive you are." Marc cooned, reaching their free hand across the table to take hers. "It would be no surprise that Felix joined the Marinette fanclub."

"But," Nathaniel started, "if you really want to know if he is interested in you there is a surefire way to find out."

Marinette straightened in her seat, intent on the redhead. Nathaniel never led her astray and she wanted the advice. She’d do almost anything to get rid of the nervousness she felt that could only be compared to when she was younger and Adrien had said something flirty on accident. "What is it?"

"Ask him." 

She groaned, hitting her head off the table and causing the silverware to clatter together. That was not the answer she wanted."Do you have any idea how much I cannot do that? He’s like super charming and he says I have good taste and just talking to him over text makes me get all anxious. If I try to ask him it’ll be like Adrien all over again! Remember how well that went for me?”

The two grimaced with her as they remembered how often she would forget how to talk around her long time crush, and how even more often she would end up tripping or falling over herself because of it. No one wanted a repeat on her crush on Adrien.

"Hey Dude, Dudette, and fam." Nino called. The DJ's gender neutral term for Marc made the ravenette smile, and they responded by waving at Nino as he made his way past the empty tables that were in between him and his friends. It only took Nino a moment before he realized Marinette didn't lift her head to say hello. "What's got Mari in a funk?"

"She wants to know if a guy is interested in her, so we suggested she ask him." Nath explained, and that was all that needed to be said for Nino to understand. He had known Mari for the longest and she had never been one to confront someone when it involved herself. Bullies? She'd get in their face in a heartbeat and yell at them until they straightened out. Romance? Not a chance. 

"Hey, Dudette, do you like this dude?" Nino pulled a chair out from beside Marinette and sat down. Nino placed his hand on his childhood friends back, rubbing soft circles on her shoulders. “Because if you don’t then it doesn’t matter, but if you do, well then you gotta ask.”

“How about you guys see how this guy acts near me and then send me all his subtle dude signals through text or something.” The girl lifted her head to give the best puppy dog look she could muster up, and from the collective sigh that came from the group she knew she had won. 

“I still think asking him would be easier,” Nino lightly elbowed Marinette in the side. “But hey, he’s late like you normally are. He could be your soulmate after all.”

“I’m not always late!”

“Just a majority of the time.” Marc joked. The four fell into an easy conversation about how often Marinette was late to important events, and soon how each one of them were going to be responsible that the maid of honour was on time for the wedding.

“We’ll have to remind Kagami to set the wedding time to three hours early on Mari’s invitation just so she’ll make it just on time.” It was Nathaniel’s turn to tease her, but Marinette wasn’t taking it.  
“Well, let me remind you that I am the whole reason you and Marc ended up together. Just saying. Without me snooping around you two would have walked past each other a number of times.” Marinette pointed out, remembering the time she helped the two set up dates soon after they met.

“If I’m not mistaken I was turned into an akuma-”

“And in the end you got the man of your dreams, so we should stop picking on the amazing matchmaker here and perhaps we could,” Marinette’s voice trailed off as she felt rumbling beneath her seat. The smiles on her friends' faces vanished as they all stood, checking each door for a possible sentimonster attack. The doors stayed put, and they almost believed it was an earthquake until the ground below them began to split open with the sounds of creaking metal signalling the monster had arrived. The creature was a giant snake made out of the metal pipes beneath Paris, and if the smell that wafted from it was anything to go by Marinette figured the main pipe of his body came directly from the sewer. 

Everyone scattered, running to the exits as fast as their legs could carry them. Nino made it out the fire exit, while Nathaniel and Marc escaped to the kitchen. Marinette drove behind the bar, hoping against all odds that she’d find the perfect moment to transform in order to save everyone.

That was when a familiar voice broke through her panic.

“I understand you’re a sewage pipe, but this fight is going to be a real drain.” 

Marinette covered her mouth, resisting the urge to scream out at the black cat holder. Was it the miraculous itself that made its owner make such terrible puns? Was there no escape from the puns that haunted her superhero youth?

The cat hero circled around the destroyed restaurant as the pipe snake kept the knobs it had for eyes trained on him. When he was close to the bar the snake dove for him, and Marinette jumped out of her hiding spot to push him out of the way. “Duck!”

Marinette squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the pain to hit her. There was no pain, but there was the sound of a racing heart beneath her ears. 

ScapeGoat, Mattamorphis, and Carapace were already there behind them, keeping the snake occupied as Marinette got her barings. She began lifting herself up when she caught the gaze of the hero beneath her. 

“Am I at a vending machine?” The cat hero muttered, his voice rough from getting the wind knocked out of him seconds before.

Marinette blinked. Was he concussed? She didn’t think that was possible while in costume. She looked over his head, looking for any blood or sign he was seriously injured. “What?”

“Because a snack just fell on me.” He said, grinning like a fool at his own terrible pick up line. She wanted to punch his smug face, but she’d have to wait till after she got into her suit. “Not that I’m complaining.”

She pushed herself up, determined to run off to change before she punched the man in his idiotic face, but the new cat stopped her by grabbing her wrist. She looked down at him, watching the belt he had flick around behind him like a real cat's tail. “Wait.”

The hero stood and grabbed Marinette’s shoulders. He put his other arm under her knees, and lifted her up like she weighed less than a couple of grapes. She gawked at him, unsure of what to do. This was not the time to be chivalrous, and she could have sworn he had said that flirting on the job was unprofessional. 

The hero took her out of the restaurant and made sure she was a few blocks away before setting her down. “There, this should be far enough away.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” she started, but he held a hand up and got down on one knee. Panic filled her. What was he doing? Was he being serious? Now was not the time for some cheesy joke. “What are you doing?”

Instead of the fake proposal she was half sure would come, the black cat began tying one of her shoes up. Marinette assumed it came undone at the restaurant, but she wouldn’t have to worry about it since she’d be changing soon anyways. 

“Shouldn’t you be, uh, fighting that monster Mr. Cat?” Marinette asked, unsure what it was he was after.

The man stood up once her shoe was tied and smiled, a smile that if she wasn’t so furious she would have swooned at.How could he be so nonchalant about the whole situation? He had left three people behind to fight that living pile of pipes just so he could go and flirt with a girl? He wasn’t meant for that miraculous and now she was sure of it. “I will be, but I have faith in the other heroes. For now, I just wanted to make sure your laces were done up.”

“So I can run away safely?”

“So you don’t go falling for anyone aside from me.” He winked. 

Stupid flirtatious cat. 

“Besides, that is only one of the multiple heads of the snake. I’m going after the main one, I was just nearby here to start with.” Wait, what? The man looked off in the distance, towards the center of Paris. “I can’t stay long. If you see the other heroes pass by please let them know that the snakes are coming from the sewage museum. Oh God, they have one of those here?”

“Hold on a second, how could you possibly know that?” She asked, astounded by the amount of information he had. 

As the cat hero displayed the black device in his ear she remembered what he had said the other night. He had a bluetooth earbud hooked onto a police scanner. “I have ears all around Paris, sweet flower. Now, as much as I’d love to stay here and tell you all my hidden tricks, I must be off. The sentimonster’s true head is getting close to where I left a trap and I can’t leave it there by itself. Besides, I think Ladybug is waiting for me somewhere or another.”

I don’t think that’ll be a problem, she thought to herself. 

“Wait,” Marinette grabbed his arm as he started to back away from her, for what she had no doubt was going to be a dramatic exit. “I don’t feel right calling you Chat Noir, do you have a hero name yet?”  
The hero’s face displayed his shock just for a moment before a smile brighter than the sun formed on his soft pink lips. “I don’t have one yet, why don’t you think of one for me?”

“You want me to pick?”

“Of course, it’ll remind me of the beautiful woman with bluebell eyes that gave the name to me.” The cat winked.

Marinette couldn’t help but laugh. He had told her he didn’t need a superhero name just the other day, but now he wanted one from her? He was flirtatious and full of tricks, there really was only one name for him. “How about from now on, we call you Alley Cat?”

“Alley Cat?” He said the name, tasting it on his tongue. “I like it. And who is the wonderful lady who named this poor Alley Cat?”

“Oh no, first names are for the second time you save me from a monster.” Marinette shook her head, trying not to burst into a fit of giggles seeing his fake heartbroken look.

“Then I guess I better get at it.” Alley Cat gently took her hand in his leather clad palm, and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. “I hope to save you again soon, sweet flower.” And with that the cat was off, bounding across Paris at a speed that only reminded her of the urgency behind the movement. 

She had gotten swept up in their little conversation that she forgot what she was supposed to be doing. What was wrong with her these days? First Felix being an absolute sweetheart and getting her to reevaluate her opinion on him, now making her get butterflies wherever she thought of that soft chuckle he had when he found something she said was funny. Now there was a charming alley cat who was clever enough to form schemes of his own to stop the monsters terrorizing her hometown, but smooth enough that she was having a hard time making sure her face didn’t match her supersuit. Either the boys in her life needed to be less charming, or she needed to get a boyfriend. 

Things were out of control. The pipes throughout Paris were alive and there weren’t enough superheroes to keep people safe, and Ladybug had no idea what to do. She had called everyone to tell them that the weak spot of the beast was at the museum, but that didn’t stop the destruction from around Paris from happening. 

There was chaos all around her, and it made it nearly impossible to get to the actual museum itself. If it hadn’t been for that Alley Cat intervening she wasn’t sure if she would have found her way there at all. The situation had her on high alert and she couldn’t help but be reminded of the day she lost the miraculous’ and that fear had gripped her heart. It was almost enough to make her cry.   
That wasn’t going to happen again though, and she knew it. She had thought up more backup and emergency plans just for the box than she had any time before then. The box was safe inside three other boxes in her own basement. She had designed specialty locks with Max to ensure it won’t be unlocked by fall damage or a personal assistant of a heiress. She knew it was safe. The damage had been done and she had learned from it, and now could only hope that she could make up for it. She wouldn’t fall down that rabbit hole of self doubt again.

Ladybug dodged the metal pipes that tried to attack her, and with a quick group call on her yoyo she was able to make sure everyone was on the same page on where to go. Much to her surprise two unfamiliar voices responded along with the heroes she knew would be out. 

“Miss. Bug, if you have a moment?” Alley Cat's voice came clear over her yoyo in a personal call, just the two of them. 

“What is it?” She snapped with more harshness than she had meant. She was irritated at the circumstance, and only a little at the stray cat that called. 

“I found two new miraculous holders, and they’re going to join us.” She didn’t have time for this. She was already overwhelmed and Cat adding more responsibility didn’t help.

“You just so happen to find two miraculous holders right as everything goes to Hell? You sure you didn’t just hand off two to people instead of telling me you had them?” 

“Miss. Bug, I assure you that I have no interest in keeping any miraculous away from you aside from my own. I only got to speak with the one for a moment, but they claimed to have found a second miraculous on their own and wanted to give it to you. They want to join your team.” He tried his best to calm her, trying to sooth her with his voice, but it didn’t work.

It wasn’t like she trusted him to begin with, and even with his sweet words earlier that made her heart ache, she knew not to trust anyone willy nilly. 

If only Felix was the one to find the cat miraculous, Ladybug thought. Felix thought ahead and worked with her as a team, unlike the man in black leather who seemed to know where all her buttons were to push.

“Not everyone wants to take over Paris, Miss. Bug.” Alley cat said over their walkie talkie function. “Some just want to protect it.”

She didn’t have much time to dwell on what he was insinuating with the museum coming up close. She could deal with him and the new miraculous holders later and pray that they were also on her side instead of Queen Fishers. Judging by how they were on her friends list on her communicator, they hadn’t turned their Kwami’s dark. She was just going to have to trust that for now, even if she couldn’t trust the new heroes themselves.

Most of the heroes were already there by the time Ladybug arrived. Instead of a snake head like she assumed would be what they were fighting, it turned out to be the building itself that was taken over by the amok. Pipes both old and new stretched from the building to attach her friends, and with the way they all defended each other made her proud. They had all come so far from being awkward strangers to friends, in and out of the suits. At least, all but three of the people there were friends. 

There was a woman dressed in all white with gold stripes lining her suit cutting down the pipes that were attacking their small group, her cat ears flattened against her head in frustration. The tiger reminded her too much of Chat Blanc for Ladybug to feel at ease, but this time eyes like molten gold burned under the stark white mask. Eyes that looked at the sentimonster with disgust, as if each attack toward the two heros behind her was a personal insult to her. 

Ladybug dropped down to greet the outsider heroes. “You must be the two the cat brought in. How’d he find you?”

The other hero in the group was, without any doubt in her mind, the dog holder. There were floppy brown ears that faded to black at the tips placed delicately on their head, hidden among a mess of brown hair. Their suit looked similar to the markings of a hound dog, but with red belts hanging on their hips. They were the first one to greet the senior hero with a soft timid wave, their other hand holding their specialty weapon. A crossbow. Even she was impressed by how straightforward that weapon was. 

“That guy?” The tiger hero gave a humourless laugh. “He wishes he could claim to be the one to discover my talents as a hero.”

“It is less that he found me, and more like I found him.” The dog hero stated, jumping in tune with Ladybug to dodge another metal attack. “I wasn’t going to jump in, but Barkk told me you guys might need help so I joined in and found Alley Cat. Better late than never to join the hero party, eh?”

“If it wasn’t for Roaar I wouldn’t have joined in either.” The tiger hero agreed. “I’m Tigress, by the way.”

“I’m Canis.” 

“We have a lot to discuss once this battle is over with, but for now, welcome to the team.” 

After everyone had made their brief introductions they all worked together on taking down the beast before them. Tigress, ScapeGoat, HoneyBee, Carapace, and GinnyPig all focused on defence while the other five focused on getting to the heart of the problem. With the problem solvers all focused on the same goal it took only minutes to get inside and destroy the item infused with the amok, a pipe that was almost as old as Paris itself.

Ryuko destroyed the door to get them inside, Canis was able to sniff out the item among the endless pipes inside, Mattamorphis protected them with his cane against oncoming attacks, and just as they found the item Alley Chat cataclysmed it and Ladybug purified the feather. 

Everything went smoothly as soon as they were all together and soon they were all standing around in the fixed building talking, while Ladybug processed what was happening. 

Canis stood with Mattamorphis, ScapeGoat, HoneyBee, and GinnyPig talking excitedly with the other heroes, and on the other side of her there was Tigress talking about the benefits of tai chi with Ryuko and Carapace. Within one fight everyone was getting along and she didn’t know whether she should invite them to join the team or to ask them to hand over their miraculous’. 

“You’re a they/them? Me too!” She could hear ScapeGoat excitedly talking before being interrupted by Ladybugs least favourite man. 

“Oi, Canis, don’t you have something to give the Lady here?” Alley Cat yelled, his English accent coming out clearer than ever. 

“Bloody brit,” the dog hero mumbled under their breath. Ladybug wanted to laugh. Canis wasn’t from France either if their accent was anything to go by, and Tigress had a similar accent to the other cat on their team. Ladybug only hoped that once Alya returned from America where she was filming a documentary about the Sparrow that she wouldn’t have the accent to go along with it, or the French miraculous holders would almost be outnumbered. 

“I found this the other day while shopping for jewelry for my-,” Canis cut themselves off, immediately scratching their neck in embarrassment. “Well I was out shopping and I found this.”

The hero outstretched their hand to produce a miraculous Ladybug hadn’t seen in a long time. The rooster. 

“I was kind of afraid of what kind of name that hero would use.” Canis said, smiling to themselves at their own joke. “Heros need to be family friendly after all.” 

Ladybug stared at the jewel in her hand. They hadn’t hesitated to give up a miraculous, they just wanted to do the right thing. “Thank you. The Guardian of the box also thanks you, now more than ever we need to crack down and retrieve the missing miraculous’.”

“Well I am certainly glad that you are all getting along, but there is a very wonderful woman waiting for me and I’d hate to keep my date waiting.” Alley Cat stretched his arms above his head, trying to be as dramatic as possible.

“Oh my God I left my girlfriend in a public bathroom in a city we don’t even live in.” Canis gasped, slapping their hands over their face. “She’s going to kill me!”

“At least your partner didn’t shove you in a public bathroom in order to protect you,” Tigress laughed. 

“Ey, I got to go too, Ladybug. I have some friends waiting for me. Got some important business to attend to.” Carapace joined in, and soon everyone was agreeing that they had to leave. 

“Canis, Tigress.” Ladybug used her best team leader voice to get the two’s attention. She couldn’t leave things as they were. “I appreciate your help today but the miraculous’ need to go back to the Guardian.”

The heroes ears flattened.

“Ladybug,” Canis looked at the heroine with large blue eyes, tears starting to form. “Barkk gave me a kwagatama. I’d do anything to be able to keep them in my life. She means the world to me and I promise I won’t do anything reckless.”

“And I’m on your side, I swear.” Tigress brushed her near white bangs out of her face. “I’m not going to use the miraculous for anything nefarious. Roarr means too much to me and I wouldn’t do anything that could get her taken away.”

Ladybug remembered when Tikki gave her a Kwagatama. It had been her birthday and she recalled how much those little jewels meant to be gifted one by their Kwami. If Barkk was that serious about Canis, did she even have a choice? What about Tigress?

“We will all be having a meeting in two days' time, at ten o’clock, at the top of the Eiffel Tower.” Ladybug announced. “Understood?”  
“Us too?” The new heroes asked.

“Especially you two, now go. Don’t leave your partners waiting.” Ladybug pinched the bridge of her nose as the group of heroes all ran off except for one. 

“I honestly thought you were going to take away their miraculous in front of everyone.” Alley Cat said, leaning forward to put his face in front of her own. “Does that mean you’ll stop asking for mine now?”  
“Would you listen even if I did ask for it?”

“Not as long as I’m in France, Miss. Bug.” Alley Cat laughed, taking a step back just as Ladybug tried to snatch his hand for the ring. It was a half ditch effort she didn’t put enough energy into in order to really get it back, but the black cat didn’t seem to take offence. 

“When are you leaving Paris?” 

“Depends,” he muttered. “If my date goes as well as I hope, maybe I’ll never leave.”

“You like this girl that much?” Ladybug raised a brow. “Even though I saw you flirting with someone earlier?”

“It was love at first sight with my beloved, but I didn’t stop seeing after that, y’know.” The cat ran his fingers through his hair, wistfully looking off in the distance as if remembering Marinette fondly. “If I ever have a vote on who gets a miraculous, I’d vote for her. She ran to protect me from that sentimonster without any thought of her own safety. She has the makings of a hero, Miss. Bug.”

“Good thing you aren’t getting a vote.” She needed him to stop before her face turned as red as her suit. “There is more to being a hero than sacrificing yourself.”

The man hummed to himself, that annoying smirk never leaving his face. “I’d say you need to keep a better watch on that girl, she is definitely more brilliant than you are giving her credit for. I’d bet one of my nine lives on it.”


End file.
